OUTSIDE THE WALLS

She set off to wander

Where the pines grow tall

Far away from the towns

And their ivy-choked walls

She followed her feet

Until she got lost

She stopped at the place

Where the sun formed a cross

They warned her of serpents

In the great sunken lake

In its watery mirrors

Men drift away

They warned her of monsters

That the mind itself makes

In the canopied cathedrals

Where the light falls away

The birds grew silent

The wind died down

The heartbeat of the forest

Rose up from the ground

She laid on the moss

On the green, breathing earth

In the still, golden silence

Under stands of white birch

She communed with the spirits

Long held by the land

She closed her eyes

And opened her hand

There were granite halls

And moss-covered paths

She sat ever-still

As the world circled past

It wasn't a dream

The unseen was vast

The ravens grew restless

The green darners danced

She shook off the static

That clung to her skin

It passed through her body

And left on the wind

They were hers to brave

The dark groves and deep lakes

She needed distance

The unconfined space

She was never afraid

Of their serpents and snakes

What she dreaded the most

Were the hours and days

Outside of the walls

She could wander away

She could summon her demons

And chase them away

In the forest cathedral

In the white birch stand

She closed her eyes

And opened her hand.